Mayor slams council over traffic problems

June 27, 2007

Updated: Monday, June 7, 2010 (11:04)

A MAYOR has slammed Cambridgeshire County Council for making traffic problems in St Neots town centre worse than ever despite spending £350,000 to improve it. Mayor of St Neots, Councillor Bob Eaton suggests a way of solving congestion in St Neots is t

A MAYOR has slammed Cambridgeshire County Council for making traffic problems in St Neots town centre "worse than ever" despite spending £350,000 to improve it.

Mayor of St Neots, Councillor Bob Eaton suggests a way of solving congestion in St Neots is to ban vehicles in the town centre. He told The Hunts Post: "It would be nice if the High Street could be closed to traffic but that is a bit controversial." Another of his ideas to ease traffic is to reverse the direction of the one-way street that runs alongside the New Inn. He says this will allow motorists travelling from Eynesbury to reach the Market Square easier and reduce the number of vehicles travelling in to town over the river bridge. He added: "Coming in to town that way for Eynesbury residents makes more sense."

Mayor Eaton said he has sat in queues on the river bridge for 40 minutes due to the high volume of motorists. He said: "There is no co-ordination between traffic lights in the town and people have been complaining to me about this. People are anger about the traffic problems in the town centre.

"The county council has spent a lot of money on the town centre and it has made things worse then ever. Traffic is a real mess and the county council really need to get it sorted."

But the county council has told The Hunts Post the delays are not down to their improved traffic scheme but instead, the work taking place to the east of the town at Love's Farm.

Malcolm Muggeridge, lead engineer in the accident investigation team for Cambridgeshire County Council said: "Work on the Love's Farm development may be why we are seeing longer delays in the town centre."

He added that the council had looked in to banning traffic in the town centre but did not think it was feasible and reversing the one-way system would make it difficult for HGVs to turn.

It is hoped a common control system for the crossings will be introduced at a later stage in a wider plan for the town.

Mr Muggeridge added: "A central control system, although expensive would help to improve traffic flow and could be feasible."

He noted that from January 1 1999 to October 31 2004 there had been 82 accidents in the town centre and market square.

So far the county council has spent about £350,000 in an attempt to reduce the accident rate in the town by introducing a 20mph speed limit, puffin crossings, cameras and a cycleway. It is likely to be three years before the county council will know how successful their work has been.

INFORMATION: What do you think of the traffic in St Neots town centre? Send your views to editor@huntspost.co.uk or write to: The Hunts Post, 30 High Street, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE29 3TB.